


A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

by Summerwolf



Series: Whumptober 2020 [16]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Hallucinations, Hurt Peter Parker, Kidnapping, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Calls Tony Stark "Dad", Peter Parker Has Panic Attacks, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Whump, Peter Parker is Trying His Best, Peter Parker is a Mess, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Torture, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:13:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27040024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Summerwolf/pseuds/Summerwolf
Summary: Whumptober day 16 - Hallucination.---Peter cried out, unable to hold it back as his captor loomed above him. He didn’t know anything about them, who they worked for, why they took him, any of it. All he knew was that they always wore a plague doctor mask, and every time they visited him, everything got a little bit worse.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Whumptober 2020 [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1946926
Comments: 2
Kudos: 73
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

Peter cried out, unable to hold it back as his captor loomed above him. He didn’t know anything about them, who they worked for, why they took him, any of it. All he knew was that they always wore a plague doctor mask, and every time they visited him, everything got a little bit worse.

"Please! Please no!" Peter cried, covering his face with his hands as he practically tried to crawl through the dirty concrete floor, anything - anything at all - to get away from his captor and the pain that always followed.

“Oh, little spider,” they sighed, their voice nasally, oily in a way Peter had never heard in a human being before, and hoped he would never have to hear again. Just the sound of it sent shivers down his spine and froze his blood. And when it was actually speaking to him? Everything was like that times a million. “You do know I love it when you beg.”

Peter did know it. That was why he was begging. All he could hope was maybe, just maybe, if he gave his captor what they wanted, they would go easy on him, if only just a little bit. He hated himself for it, but in that moment all that mattered was survival.

"Unfortunately I already have a plan for today," his captor sighs, sounding disappointed and the sound of it makes Peter want to puke. "Or else I would definitely be taking your begging into consideration."

“Please, please,” Peter carried on whimpering, hoping that maybe this would be the time. The time when he either managed to find a way to escape into his head so that it didn’t hurt any more, or maybe just the time he died. He didn’t really care either way.

He just wanted to get away.

“Yeah, that’s it,” his captor laughed, “just keep begging little spider. I’ll see what I can do to turn them into delicious screams.”

\---

Peter shot awake, his throat raw from screaming as he shook in place, pulling his covers around his shoulders as though they would protect him from the nightmare.

He had escaped, he was okay, Tony had saved him and now he was back home and safe and that wasn't going to happen again.

He stared down at his legs, doing all he could not to look up at the corner of the room where he knew his captor would be standing, their plague doctor mask standing out from the dark of the wall just enough for Peter to be sixty percent sure that they were just an illusion, while also being realistic enough that Peter was still a good forty percent sure it was really them, standing there, waiting for Peter to let his guard down so they could take him back.

He couldn’t go back.

He would rather die than go through all that again.

The door opening startled Peter enough to send him jumping into the air, his eyes widening and his breathing speeding up even more. His captoir, they were here, they were coming for him, they were going to take him back-

“Peter? Peter it’s okay, it’s just me, Tony, you’re safe.”

Peter shook his head, no. He wouldn't fall for this again. The amount of times he had woken up while he was in that place, hearing Tony promising him he was safe, only to find it was just a dream, or a recording, or his captor who was apparently really good at accents.

It was never Tony, and chances were it wasn’t this time either.

“It is me, I promise it’s me. Come on kid, just open your eyes. You’re okay.”

Peter stopped for a moment. He must have accidently spoken aloud, but that wasn’t what he was focused on at that moment. All the other times, they hadn’t called Peter anything other than his name, and they definitely had never promised that it was Tony, always just assuming he would think it was.

Maybe… was it possible this really was Tony?

“Yeah Underoos, it really is me. Just- please- just open your eyes.”

Peter waited for a moment, trying to gather the courage to do what Tony told him to, before he slowly peeled his eyes open. He stopped when his eyes were just open enough to see lights, but not see anything clearly, waiting in the safety of patches of light and dark for something - anything - and when nothing happened, only then did he open his eyes the rest of the way.

His captor was still in the corner, their expression about as emotionless as a plague mask could be - which seeing as this was an expressionless mask really said a lot - and they just stared off into space without saying anything, or doing anything. Peter wanted to close his eyes again, didn’t want to have to see them any longer, didn’t want to have to know that they were there, always there, in the corner of rooms or his peripheral vision. They had promised him that he would never forget them, and apparently they were right, it had been a while and yet he had never forgotten.

He didn’t think he ever would, not after everything they had done to him.

“Hey, Kid, it’s okay, just look at me,” Tony muttered gently, reaching a hand out to gently grip Peter’s chin and force his gaze away from the corner and onto Tony’s face. He looked just like he always did, a few more worry lines than usual, but his brown eyes were filled with life, and his face was constantly flickering through at least a million emotions, nothing like Peter’s captor. He was nothing like the person Peter could see standing in the corner, and that difference was more than comforting.

“Yeah, that’s it,” Tony hummed in a way that would be more than patronising if it had been anyone but Tony, but as it was, in that moment, it just felt reassuring. “It’s just you and me, whatever you are seeing isn’t there, it’s just us.”

Peter shuddered a bit, his breaths starting to even out just a bit, Tony’s gentle words starting to calm him down. Tony was amazingly good at that, calming Peter down, he guessed it was probably because Tony had more than enough practice calming himself down from panic, and knew what to do.

“They’re there,” Peter whispered, his voice little more than a croak of fear, “they’re in the corner, they won’t leave me alone.” He curled into himself, hugging his knees to his chest and locking his gaze onto Tony’s face, hoping that maybe if he didn’t look the - the hallucination would go.

“We’ll figure this out,” Tony promised quietly, “just please - please agree to get help. I know why you said no before, but you can’t go on without talking about this with someone, even if it is just me!”

“I- I think I agree,” Peter replied, too tired to properly argue. “I think- I’d like to find someone to talk to, if there is anyone who I won’t have to hide the whole Spiderman thing from, then yeah. Find someone and I’ll talk to them.”

“Thank you Peter,” Tony smiled softly, “that means a lot to me.” They were quiet for a moment, Peter finding it easier and easier not to look over to the not so empty corner. “Go on kid, get some sleep. I’ll watch over you, make sure nothing comes to hurt you.”

Peter nodded tiredly, lying down with his head pillowed on Tony’s lap, knowing he was safe for as long as his- his dad was there. Because yeah, Tony may not be his dad by blood, but if anyone in his life deserved the title, it really was Tony.

“”Thank you dad.”

The smile in Tony’s face was audible when he replied, the quiet, “no problem kid,” the last thing Peter heard before he slipped off to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!!  
> Hope you enjoyed!!!


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